Everyone is hunting in WoW Classic only "Best in Slot"

Even in WoW Classic , the hunt for the best gear is a priority for many players. However, this perfect math annoys some – including our author Cortyn.

Even before World of Warcraft Classic launched, there were many discussions and talks about how the game might have changed. It wasn’t about the game itself – because that’s practically identical – but about the views and attitudes of the players.

After all, there are now many more sources of information than 15 years ago, and almost every detail of Classic is known. There are no more secrets, and with just a few clicks, anyone can find out where to get the mathematically calculated best equipment for their character. What “Best in Slot” is for each class can be easily researched.

Now, after almost 5 weeks in WoW Classic, that is slowly getting on my nerves.

Perfectionism Hinders Enjoyment

I am personally massively disturbed by the hunt for the “Best in Slot” items. Because that seems to be what a large portion of players care about above all else. Once you secure the “BiS” item, a dungeon becomes practically uninteresting.

I really can’t blame the players. After all, time has become rather scarce for most gamers in recent years and is not something that’s available in endless amounts – quite different from how it was “back then” for students or schoolchildren.

I can fundamentally understand the urge to optimize one’s character and to sacrifice time only for what might mean progress. For many players, it is a sense of achievement to look at their character and claim that it is “completed” at this current state.

But then I think back to the past, to “WoW Vanilla,” and remember that I must have run into Scholomance a hundred times or pushed the Baron off his moldy horse in Stratholme.

Even long after I could pull anything valuable from the dungeon, I joyfully ran in there repeatedly. Not necessarily for the loot, but just to do something together in WoW.

“New content” for WoW Classic is coming later this year, by the way.

Less Knowledge = More Fun?

I consciously decided against looking at a “Best in Slot” list for the mage because I fear that otherwise I would approach WoW Classic in the same way. But now it is slowly backfiring that I am probably more of an exception since it eats away at my enjoyment of the game in a “reverse way.” Because while I don’t play with the same goal as others, the selection of playmates gets smaller every day.

From the “solid tanks and healers” on my friends list, there are fewer and fewer each day that can still be excited about a run in a dungeon from which they already have all the upgrades. Many primarily pursue personal goals, murdering Rend Blackhand 10 times a day for one of his swords or farming the saber in Winterquell. Or they have already started striving for level 60 with their first twinks as well.

In summary, I am still glad that I am not worried about “Best in Slot” and simply take what I can get. I am happy about every upgrade and sometimes get surprised because I didn’t even know 100% where certain items actually came from. At least for me, that helped a lot to maintain my joy in Classic.

I am also happy with my fire mage – that was the best, worst decision!

I can only hope that in a few weeks, the players who sought to optimize their character will be “finished”. Perhaps I am only bothered by it so much because I now have to read at least once in every group, “X is my BiS, can I have it?”.

But how about you? Have you created a “Best in Slot” list for your character and are you working through it systematically? Or do you avoid such lists and just play a bit more relaxed?